India flex muscle in ICC meet, threaten pull-out over DRS

NEW DELHI: India has once again threatened to pull out of any tour in which the host country insists on using the Decision Review System, according to a report.

According to a report in a sports website, at the ICC executive council meeting in Dubai BCCI president N Srinivasan has shot down a proposal in favour of a policy change where the approval of the host country would be enough to implement the DRS.

The report said that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke was the lone man who spoke in favour of a policy change regarding the implementation of DRS.

"Srinivasan's concerns are understood to still centre on a belief that the technology could be easily manipulated and is unreliable. It has been learnt that he made the claim that India would pull out of bilateral series if a system was in place where the home side could insist on the DRS," the report said.

"Though the DRS issue was not even listed on the agenda, or in the post-meeting press release dispatched, it was discussed at length in the wake of a renewed push during the ICC chief executives committee (CEC) meeting last month, for universal implementation of the referral system.

"At that meeting, held on December 4, every member with the exception of India had backed a change in the DRS implementation policy," the report added.

The existing playing conditions as laid down by the ICC require the approval of both countries on DRS during a bilateral series.

But report said that the CEC recommended that the issue should be resolved via a vote during the executive board meeting.

"In the end there was no vote as most of 13-man strong board (10 Full Members plus three Associates) failed to stand up to Srinivasan. Only Clarke, who supported the CEC recommendation, felt it warranted a discussion this week again," the report read.